Cabinet with sewing machine supported from front hinges



Feb. 19, 1963 E. w. STANTON ETAL 3,073,132

CABINET WITH SEWING MACHINE SUPPORTED FROM FRONT HINGES Filed May 6, 1960 4 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTORS. EDWARD W STANTON m ,WILLIAM HOFGESANG Y ATTORNEY Feb. 19, 1963 E. w; STANTON ETAL CABINET WITH SEWING MACHINE SUPPORTED FROM FRONT HINGES Filed May 6, 1960 4y Sheets-Sheet 2 Fig. 5.

WI TNESS Fig.6. p

INVENTORS.

EDWARD W STANTON m WILL/AM HOFGESANG w-wd TTORNEY Feb. 19, 1963 E. w. STANTON ETAL 3,073,132

CABINET WITH SEWING MACHINE SUPPORTED FROM FRONT HINGES V Filed May 6, 1960 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 nvvgzvrozas EDWARD W STANTON WITNESS m WILLIAM HQFGESANG ATTORNEY Feb. 19, 1963 E. w. STANTON ETAL 3,078,132

CABINET WITH SEWING MACHINE SUPPORTED FROM FRONT HINGES iled May 6, 1960 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 INVENTORS EDWARD W STANTON m WILL/AM HOFGESANG WITNESS BY 70w g6 LL 206 204 7 .,.A.u .QM-

ATQTORNEY United States Patent W CABLJET WKTH SEWING MACHINE SUPFQRTED FRDM FRONT HiNGES Edward W. Stanton, Cranford, and Wiliiarn Hofgesang, Avencl, N.J., assignors to The Singer Manufacturing Company, Elizabeth, Ni, a corporation or New Jersey Filed May 6, 19 50, Ser. No. 27,310 4 Claims. (Ci. 312-36) This invention relates to drop-head type sewing machine cabinets and to sewing machines designed to be housed in said cabinets, and particularly relates to improved means for hingedly supporting a sewing machine from the front edge of a sewing machine receiving cutout formed in the table top of the cabinet.

In the past most family type sewing machines, which have been installed in drop-head type cabinets, have been hingedly supported from the rear edge of the sewing machine receiving cutout. Some attempts, for example, the one shown in the long expired United States Patent No. 271,362, have been made to hin-geclly support a sewing machine from a location adjacent to the front edge or" the sewing machine receiving cutout. However, these attempts have not been entirely satisfactory as evidenced by the fact that practically all commercially available family type sewing machine cabinets provide means for hingedly supporting the sewing machine from a location adjacent to the rear of the machine receiving cutout. Therefore, one of the primary objects of the present invention is to provide an improved means for hingedly supporting a sewing machine from a location adjacent to the front edge of the sewing machine receiving cutout.

Another object of the invention is to provide an improved drop-head type cabinet and sewing machine which will make it easy for a woman to raise and lower a sewing machine in its cabinet.

A further object of the invention is to provide an improved drop-head type cabinet and sewing machine which will make it possible to install a sewing machine in the cabinet and to remove it therefrom without the use of a screw driver or other tool.

A still further object of the invention is to provide an improved means for installing a sewing machine in a cabinet in such a manner that the sewing machine cannot be removed from the cabinet except when the said sewing machine is turned to a predeterminad position.

With the above and other objects in view, as will hereinafter appear, the invention comprises the devices, combinations and arrangements of parts hereinafter set forth and illustrated in the accompanying drawings of a preferred embodiment of the invention, from which the several features of the invention and the advantages attained thereby will be readily understood by those skilled in the art.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is an end elevational view, partly in section, showing a sewing machine cabinet with a sewing machine hingedly mounted at a location adjacent to the front edge of a sewing machine receiving cutout and embodying the present invention,

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary top plan view partly in section, of the cabinet and sewing machine shown in FIG. 1,

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary elevational view, partly in section, taken substantially on the line 33 of FIG. 2 and showing the sewing machine in the process of being lowered into the cabinet,

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary elevational view taken on the line 4-4 of FIG. 2 and showing the sewing machine in operative position,

FIG. 5 is a view similar to FIG. 4 but showing the sewing machine lowered into the stored position,

3,78,l32 Patented Feb. 19, 1953 FIG. 6 is a view similar to FIGS. 4 and 5 but showing the sewing machine hinged to the position it must assume in order to be removed from the cabinet,

FIG. 7 is an exploded perspective view showing the connections between the cabinet and the sewing machine,

FIG. 8 is a view similar to FIG. 1 but illustrating a modified form of the invention,

FIG. 9 is a top plan view, partly in section, of portions of the modified cabinet and sewing machine shown in FIG. 7,

FIG. 10 is a fragmentary elevational view taken substantially on the line iii-10 of FIG. 9 and showing the sewing machine in the process of being lowered into the cabinet, and

FIG. 11 is a view similar to FIG. 10 but showing the sewing machine in the process of being removed from the cabinet.

A preferred embodiment of the drop-head type sewing machine cabinet and sewing machine shown in FIGS. 1-7, inclusive, of the accompanying drawings, comprises a cabinet 16 having, among other well known parts, a table top 17 provided with a sewing machine receiving cutout 18, a front rail 19, and a hinged flap 21. The flap 21 normally closes a rear portion of the cutout 18 and is hinged to the table top 17 at a location adjacent to the rear edge of the cutout 18 by means of a pair of hinges, only one, namely, hinge 22, being shown. The flap 21 is held in a horizontal position within the cutout 18 by the hinges 22 and a pair of stop plates, only one, namely stop plate 23, being shown, the stop plates 23 being screwheld to the table top 17. The flap 21 has secured to its free end a pair of substantially L-shaped stops, only one, namely stop 24, being shown. Each of the stops 24 has a horizontally disposed portion 25 screw-held to the lower face of the flap 21 and a vertically disposed portion in the form of clamp designed to hold a resilient bumper as. The stop 24 may be similar to stops more fully illustrated in United States Patent No. 2,906,576.

A sewing machine which is especially adapted for being hinged from a location adjacent to the front edge of the machine receiving cutout, is generally indicated by the numeral 31. The sewing machine 31 is provided with a pair of pintles 32 and 33 which may be identical (FIGS. 2 and 7). One of the pintles protrudes from the left end and the other pintle protrudes from the right end of the base 34 of the sewing machine 31. The sewing machine 31, in addition to a number of other well known parts, has a plurality of resilient feet 36, a standard 37, a head 38, and a Work supporting surface 39 formed on the top of the base 34. The feet 36 are normally used to support the sewing machine when, as a portable machine, it is placed on top of a table. Because the two pintles 32 and 33 may be identical in form, only one will be described in complete detail. Each pintle has a cylindrical end 44 from one side of which radially extends a small key 45. The end 44 and the key 45 are received in an appropriatecylindrical grooved recess 46, formed in the base 34 or in an extension of the base 34. The key 45 and grooved recess 46 prevent the pintle from turning and a screw 41, which in some instances is used to secure one of the feet 36 to the base 34, engages the end 44 to assist in securing the pintle to the base 34. The end 44 is capped by a circular flange 47 and eccentrically extending from the face of the flange 47 there protrudes an oval shaped trunnion 48. The major axis of the oval (FIG. 4) is indicated by a line 49 and FIG. 4 shows the sewing machine in its normal horizontal operative position. It will be noted that the pintles 32 or 33 are installed in the base 34 in such a manner that an extension of the major axis 49 makes an angle of approximately 17 degrees with respect to a vertical line drawn perpendicular to the work supporting surface 39. The pintles 32 and 33 may be made from a solid piece of nylon. The pintles, however, may be made from metal or if desired may be made of nylon provided with a metallic reinforcing pin extending axially through each pintle. This last construction is shown in FIG. 7, wherein the pintle 32 is constructed with a metallic pin 40.

In order that the sewing machine 31 may be removably installed and hingedly supported in the cabinet 16 by means of the oval trunnions 48-48, the table top 17 is supplied with a pair of open-topped sockets 42 and 43. The socket 42, as best seen in FIG. 2, is located adjacent to the left front corner of the machine cutout 13, whereas the socket 43 is located adjacent to the right front corner of the same cutout. The left socket 42 (FIGS. 2 and 7) has a horizontal plate 51 held to the lower surface of the table top 17 by screws 52. The socket 42 also has a solid block 53 attached to the plate 51 and the block 53 is formed with a curved edge 54 and also formed with an upwardly open guiding trough having downwardly convergent sloping surfaces 56 and 58 and a sloping surface 57 which surfaces guide the oval shaped journal 48 of the pintle 32 when the sewing machine 31 is being installed in the cabinet 16. The right socket 43 is provided with a horizontal plate 61 held to the lower surface of the table top 17 by screws 62. The socket 43 also has a solid block 63 formed with an upwardly open guiding trough having two downwardly converging surfaces 66 and 63 and one vertical surface 67. The guiding trough of the socket 42 leads downwardly into a boot or shoe shaped hole or aperture 55 (FIG. 7) formed in a depending plate 59 formed integral with the plate 51. The guiding trough of the socket 43 also leads downwardly into a boot or a foot shaped hole 65 formed in a depending plate 69 formed integral with the plate 61. Each hole 55 and 65 (FIGS. and 6) has a horizontal top edge 71, an inclined front edge 72, an inclined bottom edge 73 and a vertical rear edge 74. The edge 71 is joined to the edge 72 by a curved edge, the edge 72 is joined to the edge 73 by a curved edge and the edge 73 is joined to the edge 74 by a curved edge, all of the last stated curved edges having a curvature substantially equal to the curvature of the opposite ends of the oval shaped trunnions 48.

In operation, the parts shown in FIGS. 1-7, inclusive, function in the following manner. When it is desirable to place the sewing machine 31 into the cabinet 16, the oval trunnion 48 of the pintle 32 is placed into the guiding trough formed by the sloping surfaces 56, 57 and 58. At the same time, the oval trunnion 48 (FIG. 2) of the pintle 33 is guided into the trough formed by the surfaces 66, 67 and 68. As the sewing machine 31 is lowered into place, the oval trunnions 48-48 move into the space defined by the edges 71, 72, 73 and 74. When the work supporting surface 39 is horizontal the oval trunnions 48 assume the position shown in FIG. 4 in which position it will be noted that the trunnion 48 is held by the surfaces 71, 72 and 73, thereby preventing the sewing machine 31 from inadvertently being pushed backwardly. This also assures that the base 34 will be properly positioned in the cutout 18. When it becomes desirable to house the sewing machine 31 in the cabinet 16, the sewing machine 31 is raised slightly and the base 34 is turned downwardly in such a manner as to cause the oval trunnions 48-48 to assume the position shown in FIG. 5. The edges 71, 72, 73 and 74 do not necessarily limit the downward turning movement of the base 34 as the downward movement of the base 34 is stopped by a bumper 20 conveniently carried on the inside surface of the rail 19. When it becomes desirable to remove the sewing machine 31 from the cabinet 16, the base 34 is turned and moved until it assumes the sloping position shown in FIG. 6 and the trunnions 48-48 assume the vertical position also shown in FIG. 6. This aligns the oval trunnions 48-48 with the vertical throat of the trough as 4 defined by the surfaces 56-57-58 and 66-67-68 and thus permits separation of the trunnions 48-48 from the troughs and removal of the sewing machine 31 from the cabinet 16.

The embodiment of the invention illustrated in FIGS. 81 1, inclusive, is similar to the embodiment shown in FIGS. 1-7, inclusive, in that both embodiments comprise a cabinet 16 having a table top 17 provided with a sewing machine receiving cutout 18, a front rail 19, a hinged fiap 21, a hinge 22, a stop plate 23 and a stop 24. A sewing machine, which is especially adapted for being hingedly supported from a location adjacent to the front edge of the machine receiving cutout, is generally indicated by the numeral 131. To this end the sewing machine 131 has a pair of cylindrical pintles 132 and 133 which are carried one on the left end and one on the right end of the base 134 of the sewing machine 131. Each pintle 132 and 133 has a cylindrical end 144 which is secured in a recess 146 formed in the base 134. Each pintle, at its free end, has a reduced diameter groove or trunnion 148 and one end of this trunnion is faced with a circular flange 147.

In order that the sewing machine 131 may be rcmov ably installed and hingedly supported in the cabinet 16 by means of the trunnions 148-148, the table top 17 is sup plied with a pair of open topped socket mechanisms 142 and 143. The socket 142, as best seen in FIG. 9, is located adjacent to the left front corner of the machine cutout 18, whereas the socket 143 is located adjacent to the right front corner of the same cutout.

The left socket mechanism 142 is provided with a horizontal plate 151 held to the lower surface of the table top 17 by screws 152. The plate 151 carries a solid block 153 in which is formed an upwardly open guiding trough having two downwardly convergent sloping surfaces 156 and 158 and a sloping surface 157, which surfaces are designed to guide the cylindrical trunnion 148 when the sewing machine 131 is in the process of being installed in the cabinet 16. The guiding trough of the socket mechanism 142 leads downwardly into a lower boot shaped hole or aperture (FIG. 10) formed in :1 depending plate 159 constructed integral with the hori* zontal plate 151. The boot shaped hole 155 has a vertical open-topped ankle aperture 176 and a rearwardly extending foot aperture 177, the closed end of the foot aperture 177 being curved as at 178. A latch bar 181 FIG. 10) carried in slidable engagement against one side face of the plate 159 is held in this slidable engage ment by a pair of headed pins 182 and 183, each of which is secured to the plate 159. The pin 182 passes through a slotted hole 186 formed in the latch bar 181, and the pin 183 passes through a slotted hole 187 also formed in the latch bar 181. The hole 186 is L-shaped and thereby has an upwardly extending branch 188 and a horizontally extending branch 189. The slotted hole 187 is straight and thus is free of branches. The latch bar 181 carries a pair of oppositely extending fingers or detents 184 and 185. The top edge of detent 184 is in the form of a downwardly curved cam surface and the bottom edge of the finger is in the form of an upwardly curved cam surface. Depending on the position of the latch bar, either the detent 184 or the finger 185 can assume a position partially blocking the previously referred to ankle aperture 176. A spring support pin 191 extends outwardly from the side face of the plate 159 against which the latch bar 181 slides and at a location beyond the external surface of the latch bar 181, the pin 191 is formed with an annular groove which receives a central portion of a spring 192. One end of the spring 192 is hooked around the headed pin 183 and the other end of the spring 192 resiliently engages a pin 193 carried by the latch bar 181 at a location between the holes 186 and 187. From one end of the latch bar 181 there extends at right angles therefrom a horizontal limb 194 and from the free end of the limb 194 there depends a leg 196 provided with a threaded hole for accommodating a screw 197. The screw 197, in addition to being threaded into the leg 196, passes through a slotted hole 198 formed in a slide 199 one end of which carries a clamp 201 designed to hold the inner end of a push rod 202. The outer end of the rod 202 has a button 203 positioned externally of the rail 19. A handle 204, also positioned externally of the rail 19, is slidably carried on the rod 202 and is biased away from the button 203 by a helical spring 206.

The right socket mechanism 143 is similar to the left socket mechanism 142 except that some of the parts of the mechanisms are opposite hand. Because of this, no attempt will be made to give a detailed description of socket mechanism 143, except to say that the right socket mechanism, as shown in FIG. 9, has a horizontal plate 161 held to the lower surface of the table top 17 by screws 162 and that the upwardly open guiding trough of the socket mechanism 143 has two (FIG. 9) downwardly sloping converging surfaces 166 and 168 and one vertical surface 167, whereas the previously described socket mechanism 142 has three downwardly sloping surfaces.

In operation, the above described parts function in the following manner. When it is desirable to place the sewing machine 131 into the cabinet 16, the trunnion at the free end of the pintle 132 is placed into the trough 156157-158 of the socket mechanism 142 and the trunnion at the free end of the pintle 133 is placed into the trough 166-167168 of the socket mechanism 143. As the trunnion of pintle 132 descends from the dotted position to the solid line position of FIG. 10, it passes through the vertical ankle aperture 176 and engages the upper cam surface of the detent 184- thereby moving the latch bar 181 against the bias of the spring 192 sufficiently to the left (FIG. to allow the trunnion 148 of the pintle 132 to move from the dotted line position of FIG. 10 to the solid line position of the same figure and thereby enter the foot aperture 177 of the aperture 155. As soon as the trunnion 148 of the pintle 132 is in the foot aperture 177, the spring 192 returns the latch bar 181 to the position shown in FIG. 10. In this position, the finger 184 prevents the trunnion 148 from leaving the foot aperture 177. At the same time the right trunnion 148 of the pintle 133 enters the right socket 143 in the same manner as described for the left socket 142. This permits the sewing machine 131 to be hinged about the trunnions 148-148 from the raised working position shown by solid lines in FIG. 8 to the lowered stored position shown by dash-dash lines in FIG. 8.

Should it become desirable to remove the sewing machine 131 from the cabinet 16, the two buttons 203203 are pushed. When the button 203 of FIG. 11 is depressed by the operators finger 208, the rod 202, working by means of the slide 199 and the leg 196, shifts the latch bar 181 to the left against the bias of the spring 192 and slightly turns the latch bar 181 in a clockwise direction about the pin 183. Shifting the latch bar 181, to the left moves the detent 184- out of the ankle aperture 176 and thereby permits the trunnion 148 to be lifted upwardly out of the boot shaped aperture 155. Shifting the latch bar 181 to the left and turning the same latch bar clockwise permits the pin 182 (FIG. 11) to enter the branch 188 and thereby hold the latch bar 181 in the shifted position. This, of course, allows the sewing machine 131 to be removed from the cabinet 16. When the trunnion 143 passes upwardly through the ankle aperture 176, it engages the cam surface formed on the lower part of the finger 185, (FIG. 11). This turns the latch plate 181 counterclockwise about the pin 183 as a fulcrum and disengages the branch 188 from the pin 182. When this occurs, the spring 192 returns the latch bar 181 to the position shown in FIG. 10, in which position the mechanism is again ready to receive the trunnion 148.

Having thus described the nature of this invention, what we claim herein is:

1. In combination a sewing machine cabinet and a sewing machine, said sewing machine having a base providing a work supporting surface and said cabinet having a table top provided with a sewing machine receiving cutout, a pair of sockets secured to said table top, each of said sockets having a pair of upwardly open downwardly convergent sloping surfaces terminating in a boot shaped hole having a horizontal top edge, an inclined side edge, an inclined bottom edge and a vertical side edge, one of said sockets being secured to the table top adjacent to the left front corner of said cutout and the other of said sockets being secured to said table top adjacent to the right front corner of said cutout, and said sewing machine being provided with a pair of metallic reinforced oval shaped eccentric non-metallic trunnions adapted to be received in said sockets and in said boot shaped holes, one of said trunnions protruding from the left and the other protruding from the right of said sewing machine.

2. In combination a sewing machine cabinet and a sewing machine, said sewing machine having a base providing a work supporting surface and said cabinet having a table top provided with a sewing machine receiving cutout, a pair of sockets secured to said table top, each of said sockets having a pair of upwardly open downwardly convergent sloping surfaces terminating in a boot shaped hole having a horizontal top edge, an inclined side edge, an inclined bottom edge and a vertical side edge, one of said sockets being secured to the table top adjacent to the left front corner of said cutout and the other of said sockets being secured to said table top adjacent to the right front corner of said cutout, and said sewing machine being provided with a pair of metallic reinforced oval shaped eccentric non-rnetallic trunnions adapted to be received in said sockets, and in said boot shaped holes one of said trunnions protruding from the left and the other protruding from the right of said sewing machine, and the major axis of each of said oval shaped trunnions making an angle of approximately seventeen degrees with respect to a line drawn perpendicular to the work supporting surface of the sewing machine.

3. In combination a sewing machine cabinet and a sewing machine, said sewing machine having a base providing a work supporting surface and said cabinet having a table top provided with a sewing machine receiving cutout, a pair of sockets secured to said table top, each of said sockets having a horizontal plate held to the lower surface of the table top by screws and each socket having a solid block attached to the horizontal plate, and each said sockets having a pair of upwardly open downwardly convergent sloping surfaces terminating in a boot shaped hole having a horizontal top edge, an inclined side edge, an inclined bottom edge and a vertical side edge, one of said sockets being secured to the table top adjacent to the left front corner of said cutout and the other of said sockets being secured to said table top adjacent to the right front corner of said cutout, and said sewing machine being provided with a pair of metallic reinforced oval shaped eccentric plastic trunnions adapted to be received in said sockets and in said boot shaped holes, one of said trunnions protruding from the left and the other protruding from the right of said sewing machine.

4. In combination a sewing machine cabinet and a sewing machine, said sewing machine having a base formed on opposite sides with cylindrical grooved recesses, and said cabinet having a table top provided with a sewing machine receiving cutout, a pair of sockets secured to said table top, each of said sockets having a pair of upwardly open downwardly convergent sloping sur faces terminating in a boot shaped hole having a horizontal top edge, an inclined side edge, an inclined bottom edge and a vertical side edge, one of said sockets being secured to the table top adjacent to the left front corner of said cutout and the other of said sockets being secured to said table top adjacent to the right front corner of said cutout, a pair of pintles, each pintle having a cyl indrical end formed with a radially extending key, said ends entering said cylindrical grooved recesses in said sewing machine base, and a metallic reinforced oval shaped eccentric nylon trunnion formed on each of said pintles, said trunnions being adapted to be received in said sockets and in said boot shaped holes.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Rathbun Jan. 30, 1883 Richards Oct. 1, 1901 Shaffer Aug. 12, 1952 Wilmer July 31, 1956 FOREIGN PATENTS Germany Aug. 28, 1935 

1. IN COMBINATION A SEWING MACHINE CABINET AND A SEWING MACHINE, SAID SEWING MACHINE HAVING A BASE PROVIDING A WORK SUPPORTING SURFACE AND SAID CABINET HAVING A TABLE TOP PROVIDED WITH A SEWING MACHINE RECEIVING CUTOUT, A PAIR OF SOCKETS SECURED TO SAID TABLE TOP, EACH OF SAID SOCKETS HAVING A PAIR OF UPWARDLY OPEN DOWNWARDLY CONVERGENT SLOPING SURFACES TERMINATING IN A BOOT SHAPED HOLE HAVING A HORIZONTAL TOP EDGE, AN INCLINED SIDE EDGE, AN INCLINED BOTTOM EDGE AND A VERTICAL SIDE EDGE, ONE OF SAID SOCKETS BEING SECURED TO THE TABLE TOP ADJACENT TO THE LEFT FRONT CORNER OF SAID CUTOUT AND THE OTHER OF SAID SOCKETS BEING SECURED TO SAID TABLE TOP ADJACENT TO THE RIGHT FRONT CORNER OF SAID CUTOUT, AND SAID SEWING MACHINE BEING PROVIDED WITH A PAIR OF METALLIC REINFORCED OVAL SHAPED ECCENTRIC NON-METALLIC TRUNNIONS ADAPTED TO BE RECEIVED IN SAID SOCKETS AND IN SAID BOOT SHAPED HOLES, ONE OF SAID TRUNNIONS PROTRUDING FROM THE LEFT AND THE OTHER PROTRUDING FROM THE RIGHT OF SAID SEWING MACHINE. 